John Peter Leesi
CEO and President
John Peter Leesi became CEO and President of Outokumpu Copper Products in 2005 as it moved into private ownership and began its rebranding and transformation into Luvata.
He has experience of finance and international business strategy, having been Corporate Vice-President of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications and CFO through the recovery of Ericsson Consumer Products since 2001. He has held various other roles in Finance, Law, Strategy and IPR as well as serving as intelligence officer in the Swedish Marines. John Peter now lives with his wife and children in London, England.
He was educated in Sweden and the USA and holds a degree in business and international finance as well as certificates in economics, mergers, acquisitions and alliances.
Jyrki Vesaluoma
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Jyrki Vesaluoma joined Luvata as CFO in November 2005. Before that he spent two years as CFO at Metso Paper and several years in a variety finance management positions within the Outokumpu group in both Finland and Germany.
He qualified with an MSc in Economics from the Helsinki School of Economics.
Jyrki lives in the UK with his wife and three children but returns to his Summerhouse in Finland when he can. Before his working career he has played tennis at a national level. He still plays tennis and is a keen skier. As ski slopes can be difficult to find in the UK, he has also taken up golf.
Bob Kickham
Senior Vice-President of Procurement & Leadership and Organisational Development
Bob Kickham joined Luvata in 2005. Prior to this he was Chief Procurement Officer at Diageo and BAT. Bob also has experience in operations, quality, sales and risk management from Syntegra, BT Marine and Vosper Thornycroft.
From 2002 Bob worked with Diageo in North America to help manage the integration of the company with the acquired Seagrams business. Whilst doing this Bob worked with a number of famous brands including Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray and Captain Morgan.
Bob is a non-executive director of CPS Color Group OY – a global leader in the development and supply of paint-tinting solutions. He is also a former member of the Board Of Trustees of SCA. SCA is a UK-based social enterprise whose mission is to improve people’s lives by developing and implementing innovative solutions to health and social care.
Bob graduated with joint honours in History and Economics, has an MBA and a Diploma in Consultancy (Lancaster and Bournemouth Universities, and Henley Management College). He is a member of the Institute of Purchase and Supply and a Fellow of the Institute of Logistics. He lives in the UK with his wife and two children and enjoys tennis, sailing, reading and cooking.
Justin Roux
Senior Vice-President of Communications
Justin Roux became Senior Vice-President of Communications for Luvata Group in early 2006. He has worked in the engineering industry since 1989 and, following nine years of ‘Engineer, Procure and Construct’ assignments in the offshore, process and power industries, he left the construction sites for the engineering IT industry.
In parallel, Justin has worked in journalism and communications since 1990. In 2001, he become Head of Marketing at AVEVA Group. He has been the editor of several publications and has written for titles including EU Vision, The Lonely Planet, The Howard Hughes Foundation the British press.
Justin is Chairman of the Communications Steering Group for the International Copper Association and was formerly the Chairman of the Communications Committee of the European Copper Institute. He is a member of the European Association of Communication Directors, and is a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Reading.
Justin is a regular public speaker and a heartfelt believer in responsible social values, cultural diversity and the profession of engineering. In his spare time, he enjoys writing, motorcycling and helping out at his local gym.
Dr. Martin Ekström
Senior Vice-President
Strategy and Business Development
Dr. Martin Ekström is the newest member of the Luvata Executive Team, having joined Luvata in late 2012 as Head of Strategy and Business Development. Prior to joining Luvata, Martin served as Associate Partner and Head of Metals Practice for Applied Value LLC, a strategy management consultancy focused on cost and capital efficiency.
Martin’s knowledge of the automotive, engineering and metals industries includes extensive experience working with metals strategy in North America, Asia, and Europe. He has both developed and deployed a wide range of strategies covering areas such as metals hedging, risk mitigation, technical cost savings, lobbying and merger and acquisitions.
Prior to joining Applied Value, Martin was a researcher in technology management at Stanford University where he earned a PhD in Civil Engineering. He also holds a M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden and has studied at Ecole Polytechnique, Paris.
Martin is co-author to a number of business publications including Hedging Raw Material Costs in OEMs and Valuing Flexibility in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Information Technology Investments. He previously served as Chairman of the Board for metal door manufacturer Robust and is currently Chairman of the Board for Tierps Tryckeri. An avid runner, Martin also enjoys skiing and the outdoors.
Hannu Wahlroos
Executive Vice-President, Head of China
Hannu Wahlroos has unique insight into the Luvata units and businesses around the globe, having spent his long career with Luvata in Finland, China and Italy. He has served the company in various managerial level positions in different functions including production, sales, R&D, business development and general management.
Since 2000 Hannu has been Division Head first in the Tubes Division and later in the HTS division. In September 2012 he assumed the role as Head of Luvata China and works with all Luvata business units in China to strengthen leadership and drive the development of Luvata China business. Outside of work Hannu enjoys golf and hiking.
Jussi Helavirta
Executive Vice-President, Head of Special Products
Jussi Helavirta joined Luvata in 2000. Before becoming Vice-President of the Special Products Division he worked as Division Head of the European region. Prior to Luvata, he worked in a variety of organisations including 12 years in Metso in the US and Canada where he implemented a revolutionary global production system, which made significant improvements to the paper machinery supply chain. He was also qualified to assess and audit company quality systems according Malcolm Balridge criteria. Prior to Metso he worked in Machinery Oy as sales director meeting suppliers for Finnish metalworking companies around the world especially in Japan, at Fiskars as production manager and Tamrock as project manager of state of the art Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS). In early stage of his career Jussi has participated several team building and leadership courses for example in Yale University.
Jussi has an MSc in Workshop Technology and Industrial Economics from the University of Tampere.
He lives in Finland with his wife and two sons and is on the board of the Pori Chamber of Commerce. He is a huge fan of ice hockey and, as well as scoring goals for Luvata, is on the board of his local team playing on the Finnish national league.
Ron Beal
Executive Vice-President, Head of ACR Tubes
Ron Beal has over 20 years of experience with Luvata and, previously, Outokumpu. His hands-on experience in the cross-functional areas of sales, marketing, engineering and manufacture, as well as his position as President/General Manager of the facility in Franklin, Kentucky have served him well in the strategic expansion of Luvata’s worldwide ACR Tubes business. He holds a Bachelors degree in Science from the College of Wooster as well a Masters in Business Administration from Ashland University. Ron currently resides in Bowling Green, Kentucky with his wife and two children. When not working, Ron can be found on the golf course or volunteering as a coach for the local youth leagues.
Dennis Appel
Executive Vice-President, Head of Heat Transfer Solutions
Dennis Appel has spent his entire career working for Luvata and Outokumpu and has worked in various locations worldwide. He has worked in quality, operations, engineering, and sales. He moved to Malaysia and then to China in 1999 with the tubes division.
In 2002 with the acquisition of Heatcraft he moved to Prague and worked in various positions until being promoted to GM of Coils Europe in 2005 and later Global Coils in 2006. With the acquisition of ECO in 2007 he went back to the US as Head of HTS NA and in 2012 became Head of the HTS division.
Dennis has a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt and a Masters of Business Administration from Purdue's Krannert School. He currently lives in Olive Branch, Mississippi with his wife, son and daughter. Outside of work his main hobby is woodworking and has recently taken up sailing.
